Jurgen Klopp has warned Liverpool’s Premier League rivals that there’s ‘a lot more to come’ from Dominik Szoboszlai following his impressive start to life at Anfield.
The Hungarian arrived from RB Leipzig for £60m during the summer (BBC Sport) and has backed up a strong pre-season with convincing displays in his first two competitive matches for the Reds against Chelsea and Bournemouth.
Speaking to Sky Sports about the 22-year-old (via liverpoolfc.com), the manager said: “[I liked] what everybody saw: his energy combined with technique [and] desire.
“He has pretty much all the attributes you want to see – and the last thing you would think when you see him playing is he is only 22, so there is a lot more to come when he settles in properly.
“Obviously, he has no problem to adapt to everything in an instant, but there is still more to come and we are really pleased. We are really pleased, from the first day since he was here he is full of energy. [He is] in the middle of the team already.”
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Szoboszlai’s creative influence was clear to see on his competitive Liverpool debut at Stamford Bridge 13 days ago, recording a team-high three key passes in the 1-1 draw at Chelsea and setting up one ‘big chance’ (Sofascore).
He was one of the Reds’ standout players in the win over Bournemouth last weekend, completing a team-high 66 passes (93% success rate), winning five duels, completing three dribbles and succeeding with four of his five long passes (Sofascore).
He also won the penalty that Mo Salah had saved before converting the rebound, and he was tasked with atoning for the absence of Alexis Mac Allister for more than half an hour after the Argentine’s ridiculously harsh dismissal, which has mercifully been overturned since.
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Szoboszlai’s final season at Leipzig saw him record 10 goals and 13 assists (Transfermarkt), and if he can come close to matching that tally for Liverpool this term, he’d have every reason to feel delighted with his contribution.
The early signs are quite promising, and we fully believe Klopp when he says that we’ve only scratched the surface of the Hungarian’s potential so far at Anfield.
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